Welcome to the Hog Blog, a blog chronicling minor-league baseball in the Lehigh Valley. Tom Housenick, The Morning Call's IronPigs beat writer, has been at The Morning Call since 2008. In a previous lifetime, he was at Lackawanna County Stadium in Moosic talking with future Phillies Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard, among many others.
He’ll now be spending his summers in search of who the Phillies are hoping to be the next Chase Utley and Cole Hamels plus any outfielder who catch and hit. What he really hopes to find are the next Mariano Rivera, Todd Helton and Jim Thome --- great human beings who happened to be great at this sport.
He spent the last five years covering Colonial League football, college basketball and high school track & field.

For perhaps the first time this season the 36-year-old Elarton won't be the oldest player on the field.

Scranton starter Nelson Figueroa, an ex-IronPig, turned 38 on May 18. Figueroa is 5-2 with a is 3.90 ERA.

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Sandberg's full roster lasted lasted less than 24 hours.

Catcherr Bob Stumpo, who arrived with Jeremy Barnes from Single-A Tuesday to fill out the roster, was sent to Reading Wednesday after the R-Phils back-up catcher, Steven Lerud, "tweaked" something in his elbow during a mop-up relief performance.

"It lasted one day," Sandberg said with a smile of his full roster.

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in honor of the July 4 holiday, the IronPigs are wearing camo jerseys tonight that will be raffled off to benefit Keystone Wounded Warriors.

And for perhaps the first time in professional sports history, the pregame music in a clubhouse consisted of patriotic music such as John Phillips Sousa marches, Whitney Houston's rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, and a version of God Bless America.

Also hanging from the drop ceiling in the clubhouse was an American flag.

When asked whose idea the music selection was, Frandsen just asked, 'You're an American, aren't you?"